Sword of Destiny
by Aya Mikage
Summary: I've uploaded chapter 2 already and I'm hoping to finish the 3rd chapter in a few days or so. Please give me your reviews so I can finish the story... Ya know, for inspiration... Thanks!
1. Cross My Heart

Chapter One-"Cross my Heart"  
  
  
Aya looked at her husband's face. "Tooya..." Aya whispered. "From now on, I promise to be strong for you and our children... I'll protect you, forever"  
  
"You still awake, Aya?" Tooya asked opening his eyes and looking into Aya's. He reached for Aya's warm face and smiled. Tooya leaned towards her and began kissing her. "You don't have to worry. I won't leave our family this time. I promise you that... Cross my heart." Tooya whispered to Aya's ears.  
  
"What's the matter, Aya? Tell me, what is it?" questioned Tooya with a troubled look on his face.  
  
Aya turned to Tooya who was bare naked on the bed covered only by the blue blanket, and whispered something into his ears. "Nani?" Aya only nodded.  
  
"I'll have to go away soon," Aya started bowing down her head. "If I don't leave in two days, someone will try to kill you and our family," the same delicate hands that nurtured Miku and Aki, trembled as she held her hands to feel Tooya's face. She smiled. "No wonder I fell in love with you..." Aya smiled. Though you've always worn a blank face, your eyes tend to give you away so quickly. I'll still be here tomorrow and the day after that so don't-"  
  
Tooya, not saying a word, unexpectedly stood up and closed the door to their room. As he closed the door, he leaned back to a wall pulling over his head the old black shirt he wore when Aya followed him home. He closed his eyes and then...   
  
"During the hours of darkness of your seventh year as a being, the broken pieces of your past will take shape. Your tomorrow is to remain a silent mystery, which you have made yourself worthy to sacrifice everything that is in place in the present. Once the seal you have closed, re-opens, it can never be closed once more. The shadows are your light, and the imperceptible is your darkness... Be wary of the things that appear real, for they are deceptions of which, will be your downfall."  
  
With a quick deep breath, Tooya regained consciousness the next crack of dawn. A bleeding face was in Tooya's vision; it was Aya with one of her eyes popping out, her hair fallen down, and her mouth spitting out blood. "TOOYA?!" Aya shouted holding Tooya by his shoulders. Tooya awoke suddenly feeling that he had jumped off the edge of a cliff.  
  
Tooya's body forced himself unto Aya, who was disturbed by the look on her face. "If you make her cry again, I'll take her away from you for sure!" Tooya's thoughts uttered to him. "Aya. Don't, just don't be the one who'll leave me this time." He bowed down and closed his eyes. "I vowed to you that'll I'll never leave you, so don't waste all the tears we both shared in just that. If there is someone who wants to kill our family, or just me, I don't want you to feel responsible for it. I'll be here to help you protect our family and all those we love."  
  
"Tooya?" Aya giggled. "What are you talking about? I'm not leaving you or our children! Where did you get that idea?" Aya asked pouring coffee into Tooya's mug. "Drink this," Aya reached out the coffee mug. "You'll feel better after you drink this."  
  
Tooya quietly accepted the mug and drank it silently as Aya watched. Aya stood up and walked out of the room. "I'll just take a shower, Tooya. Want to join me?" Aya smiled.  
  
Tooya bowed down and laughed without a sound. "Maybe later, Aya."  
  
"Okay!" Aya winked. "You know where to find me when something comes up. Don't forget Miku's birthday present! She'll finally be 7 years old tomorrow!"  
  
"During the hours of darkness of your seventh year as a being, the broken pieces of your past will take shape," remembered Tooya. "If that's true, then, I'll have to prevent her from leaving. Seventh year, huh? Tomorrow has to be it. Speaking of which," Tooya clasped his hands together and stood up.  
  
Tooya drank his coffee and walked inside of Miku's room.  
  
Her room was filled with gifts from her Uncle Yuuhi. A drowning scent filled Tooya's nose as he entered the room. Miku again left the light open for the whole night. Miku's room was dyed dark sapphire and the silver paintings of stars and moon her father painted on the ceiling. The curtains were still closed when Tooya entered.  
  
He sat by her stretched body and cleared her face. She looks a lot like her mother. If she only didn't have burgundy hair, I would think she was Aya from long ago, Tooya thought. You're going to be seven years old tomorrow, Miku. How pathetic am I? I don't even know my real age! Even so, your mother accepted me just the way I am. I wish you would grow up to love someone and be someone like your mother.  
  
"Oto-san!" Miku, who has just awoken shouted pointing her forefinger to her shirt. "Nani shiteno? Don't 'ya know I need some privacy? Can you at least knock, like normal people do?" Miku asked hysterically.  
  
"But I'm not a normal person, Miku, remember?"  
  
Miku gets an embarrassed look on her face. "Gomen, oto-san. Why wake me up so early? It's a Saturday!" Miku changes the topic abruptly.  
  
Tooya does not reply, instead he smiles and whispers something into Miku's ears. "Hontou? We're actually going out-!"  
  
Miku's mouth was covered by her father's hand. "Keep it in your system that it IS a surprise! No one should know it! It won't be fun if she knew!"  
  
Just then the doorbell rang. "That must be Yuuhi and the others! They said they'll be visiting us today, Tooya." Aya shouted from the bathroom.  
  
Tooya stood up and gave Miku a last nudge. "Remember, if you don't keep it a secret-"  
  
"I won't be able to watch TV and use the computer for 2 whole weeks! That's called black-mail, dad." Miku interrupted.  
  
"No it isn't. It's called discipline!" Tooya replied.  
  
"That's unfair, ten nights!"  
  
"Just change clothes, Miku."  
  
Tooya walked out Miku's room and opened the front door. "Yo." Yuuhi said patting Tooya's shoulders. "So, how's Aya been doing?"  
  
"She's just fine. You?"  
  
"Ohayou!!!!!!" a high-pitched voice said. "How's everything here, Tooya?" a familiar asked.  
  
"Chidori! Keep it down! Aki's still sleeping so you'd better-" Yuuhi said.  
  
"Or else what? You were the one who begged at my feet 4 years ago to go with you to meet your mother!"  
  
"Oh! Come on!" Yuuhi said sarcastically. "You're still not over black-mailing me about that shit!"  
  
Tooya smiled and then asked them to come in. "Thanks, you two."  
  
"For what?" Chidori asked, distracted by the chocolate Tooya handed them. "Yummy! Itadakimasu!"  
  
"For coming here on such short notice." Tooya answered.  
  
"Don't worry, we get that all the time at the restaurant."  
  
Aya entered the room in her short floral dress. "Yuuhi! Chidori-san!" Aya exclaimed and looks around the room. "Demo... Where is Q-chan?"  
  
"She said she'd visit Shuro's and my mother's grave before coming here with Suzumi." Chidori replied.  
  
"Mama... Papa?" a tiny voice asked. Aki enters the room scratching his eyes and holding a teddy bear on the other hand. "Is Aunt Chidori here to give me more chocolates?" Aki asked still half-asleep.  
  
Chidori is surprised and hides behind Tooya. "You're huge, hide me! Onegai, Tooya?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I promised my nephew I'd give him chocolates next time we meet. I forgot to drop by a candy store before coming here."  
  
"That's your fault Chidori-san!" Aya said holding Aki's tiny hand and leading him to the couch.  
  
Aki, who was finally awake, leapt unto Yuuhi's laps and kisses him on the cheeks. "Hey!" Yuuhi exclaims.  
  
Jealous, Chidori unexpectedly reveals herself from Tooya's back and begins to pull Aki away from Yuuhi.  
  
"Mama! Aunt Chidori is trying to separate me from my 'koibito!'" Aki shouts.  
  
"Where did you get that idea?" Tooya asked with a confused look on his face.  
  
"I usually hear you tell that you Mama every night," says Aki. Tooya and Aya only blush in their embarrassment. "Chocolate! Chocolate!"  
  
"Knock it off! People might say things about 'us' when there is no 'us'! Darn it! I'm not gay!!!" Yuuhi shouted pulling Aki's clasped hands off his new shirt.  
  
"Yes there is! Aunt Chidori is jealous because she loves you, Yuuhi-kun!"  
  
Miku entered the living room; she has already taken a bath. Combing her long burgundy hair, "Aki! Don't do that! It's disrespectful to do so! Don't you have any manners?" She asked.  
  
"Only when Aunt Suzumi-san is here for my dance class."  
  
Miku gives a frustrated look and sticks her tongue out to her brother. "Are you telling me, you're actually gay?"  
  
"Eh?" Aki gets a cold face and runs to his mother's arms. He sticks his tongue out in disagreement to her onee-chan.  
  
"That's enough, you two," started Aya. "Aki, come with mama and I'll give you a bath. You," she points out to Miku, "give them drinks and some snacks while waiting for us."  
  
Aya quietly left the room.  
  
Yuuhi cleaned his shirt and gave a long sigh. "That little mutt! He's grown up so quickly, didn't he, Tooya?"  
  
Tooya nodded and gives them an album full of pictures. "That's what's been happening over the past two years."  
  
"Two years since we last went here, right? How's Ceres and Shiso been doing?"  
  
Tooya smiled at Yuuhi and then said, "Aya tells me that Ceres seldom talks to her. Shiso on the other hand comes down to us and often apologizes about what happened in the past," Tooya was a bit sad in saying these. He closed his eyes and then his wrist suddenly started bleeding for no reason at all.  
  
Tooya took hold of the end table with his other hand. His right wrist was still bleeding. When the blood started to clot, Aya was already there in the living room. Yuuhi was still going through this shock while Chidori was busy eating and didn't notice a thing.  
  
The blood that spilled onto the table had the form of a familiar object they all have seen, Tooya's sword.  
  
"What was that?" Yuuhi asked suspiciously.  
  
"Tooya, daijobu desu ka?" Aya questioned Tooya while she was cleaning up the blood that spilled on the table.  
  
"Ah, I'm okay, just might've cut myself or something," he replied. I feel it, he thought, something inside me wants to go out of my body. Did Aya experience this when Ceres tried to take over her? This isn't just coincidence, something bad will happen.  
  
Aya was lost in her own thoughts. What's happening to Tooya? Does this have something to do with what I said last night? Does he remember everything I said? I shouldn't have just told him. Things would be more okay if I didn't tell him and if tomorrow I leave without saying a thing. Bullsh-t! I hate this! Why did I ever agree with that bastard Tomo?!  
  
"Why are you here anyway Yuuhi? Chidori?" Aya asked.  
  
Yuuhi didn't answer her question; instead, he gave a short snigger. Soon after, they were in Tokyo City looking through shops and restaurants. Aya was very delighted and so were Aki and Miku. "Mama!" Aki would shout whenever he saw a glimpse of a small cake or a toy newly displayed in the windows. Aki grew more and more restless on Tooya's shoulders and would occasionally jump down  
  
The crowd was growing thicker as the time passed. They met up with Suzumi and Q-chan near Tokyo Tower during lunch. At about two in the afternoon, just after Aya, Tooya, and the rest of them ate, Aki grew tired of looking at the many chocolates he found and fell asleep in Aya's arms when they were eating.  
  
As they strolled down the busy streets of Tokyo, Tooya carried Aki on his back. As soon as they all grew tired and decided to take a seat, "How's everything been doing since the instance four years ago?" Suzumi asked.  
  
Aya wiped off her sweat from her face and gave a long sigh. "Everything's been good," she answered. "Tooya's off a bit lately, I don't know why." Aya glanced Tooya's way and then started to cry.  
  
"What's the problem, Aya-chan?" Q-san asked.  
  
"Nothing," Aya replied wiping off the tears from her face.  
  
Suzumi motioned her hand on Aya's belly. "I knew it."  
  
Aya's eyes widened as she looked into Suzumi's anxious eyes. Suzumi nodded and gave a small smile. "Does this mean, we're going to... have another?"  
  
"Afraid so, I wanted to talk to you because of this as well as Miku's birthday." Suzumi brought out a small fuchsia bag and fell out of it was a small ring. "I want you to wear this ring. As long as you have it near you, you will not forget your family and Tooya's promise that he'll never leave you."  
  
Aya stared at Suzumi, not understanding a single word that she had just said. Aki tugged on his mother's cloak and pointed to a small pastry shop. "Promise me, Aya?"  
  
"Mama..." Aki argued.  
  
"Hmm!" Aya answered putting her hands on Suzumi's and leaving her with a smile. "Promise."  
  
After a very long day, they all headed home to their perspective houses. "Sayonara, minna-san!" Miku would shout when they reached the front door step of their apartment. Aya freshened up and then placed both Miku and Aki to bed.  
  
Tooya leaned forward to his bride's face and then said, "Cross my heart, I won't leave you, so don't leave us. We need you, nobody else."  
  
"Tooya..." Aya sweat-talked. "I'll be here, always by your side. Remember when you jumped over the end off the cliff to save our daughter, I called to you, deep inside my heart. Promise, when you wake up tomorrow, I'm still by your side."  
  
"Aishiteru, Aya"  
  
"Aishiteru," Aya replied kissing her husband's tender lips.   
  
The next day, when Tooya awoke, all of Aya's belongings have disappeared and all was left of her was a letter and the cross necklace she wore the night before.  
  
" 


	2. Hurt

Chapter 2-"Hurt"  
  
Tooya reached out to the letter with an unstable heart; he knew if he opened it, he would only read the words, "sayonara." Tooya also knew that if he did not open the letter, Aya's reasons would remain unknown and that would hurt him more. With a shivering hand, he opened the letter.  
  
"Dear Tooya,  
  
I'm very sorry for not telling you sooner the reason of my departure. You may not remember it because I drugged you. I told you the night before Miku's birthday that I would leave. That is true.  
  
Don't misunderstand me. I only did it to protect you from Tomo, my cousin. He called me a few days before Miku's birthday and said that I should meet with him at once. Do you remember the time when I told you I was going to the market? I lied. I went to a place nearby and talked with him. He told me that I should leave my family at once or else my other relatives would kill our children. I didn't understand it at first but he said that Miku, still being my child could inherit Ceres' powers. It was a mistake to listen to him, but I did.   
  
I'll be back in a few months. If I come back with lost memories and try to kill Miku or Aki, please, call Ceres. I don't know what will happen but if that's the case, please do as I wish. Ceres will appear as Miku and Shiso as well will appear. Please forgive me for my unwise decision. I'll return home when all of this has ended once more. Take care of our children, Tooya.  
  
Love,  
  
Aya."  
  
Tears strolled down Tooya's cheeks as he closed the letter. He wiped off the tears that fell but new ones quickly replaced them. How could I be so dense? I didn't notice it. It was very obvious that she was intending to leave through her actions! Tooya blamed himself. Damn! She made me cry again! So this is how Aya felt when I kept pushing her away. I didn't know how it was to be hurt because I was lonely, but since we met, I wanted to be one with her. Her eyes, her lips, her entire body and soul called me but I kept ignoring it. This is how you felt, huh? I don't even know what you found in me. Why did you have to go through all of this when you had Yuuhi by your side?  
  
Miku opened her eyes and saw the silver paintings come down from the ceiling. She rubbed her eyes and realized that it was just a hallucination. Miku reached out for her watch on the night table. Instead of finding a watch, she found a newly made sweater. Her eyes widened in extreme happiness but she quickly took back that smile when she saw a small note.  
  
"I hope you like it," the letter said. "I wish to see you in that sweater until we next meet. Love, mama."  
  
"Mama is so dramatic! As if she'll leave us! Impossible!" Miku roared waking up Aki.  
  
Aki started to cry. He pounded the table until his hands were sore.  
  
Tooya, still crying, was only in the next room; he ran to his children's room to find Aki with his sore hands and Miku lying motionless on the floor as tears started to roll down her cheeks. "What's happening, oto-san?" Aki asked with a confused face. "Mama woke me up early to day and said good-bye. Why isn't she home yet? Did she go to the market? Why didn't she take us with her? Doesn't Mama want to be with us anymore?" Aki argued. "Please tell me, oto-san!" Aki shouted stomping on the floor.  
  
Tooya embraced his two children and cried once more. "Your mother, your mother won't be coming back anymore. She left us to protect us from her relatives." Miku closed her eyes. Her last teardrop fell on the cross necklace Aya gave Tooya.  
  
Aya walked through the streets with all her belongings. She rode the bullet train to Morioka where her cousin would fetch her. So stupid, she thought. I should've brought a bigger bag!  
  
As the train doors opened at Morioka station, a man helped her carry out her belongings. "Arigatou." Two men approached her as she walked out of the door.  
  
"Mikage Aya-san?" Asked one of the men.  
  
"Hai. Where is Tomo?"  
  
One of the men lifted her bags while the other spoke. "Tomo-san will be meeting you in your new home."  
  
One man gently grabbed her arm and said, "Please, come now before anybody sees us."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere until I see that bastard Tomo!" Aya shouted while forcefully removing the man's hand on her arm.  
  
A man wearing a black cloak came towards Aya. He removed his dark glasses and Aya immediately recognized him. His hair was light brown and his eyes were purple. The same deep scar on his left cheek can be seen. Aya mistook him as Aki when they first met. The man was...  
  
"Nice of you to come, Aya-chan." He said.  
  
The bodyguards tried to restrain Aya to no avail. She forcefully kicked them as if she didn't have a child on her abdomen. "Good thing you came here, Tomo-chan! If you didn't arrive, I would've taken the train right back to my family! What is it that you want?"  
  
Tomo gave a short sneer. "What I want," he asked. "I want you to leave your family otherwise your husband and three children will be killed!"  
  
"How did you know about all that? The last time we met was when I was 6 years old! Weren't your family in America?"  
  
He violently grabbed her neck. "Now listen here, I am doing this for your own good! If you want this to finally end," he continued as Aya was trying to let loose of Tomo's grip on her neck. "Just shut the f-ck up, b-tch! If you want your children to die, then go ahead! Go back to them!"  
  
Tomo, using his other hand, handed a bottle to one of his men and drank some of it. He leaned towards Aya who was withdrawn. He kissed her and gave her the drug that he supposedly drank. Aya fell unconscious on the floor with the silver ring still on her right ring finger.  
  
Thumping, Yuuhi hurriedly answered the phone. "Moshi-moshi. Aogiri residence. Who's calling?"  
  
"Yuuhi!" Tooya said on the other line.  
  
"Tooya? Why did you call? We were together only yesterday."  
  
"Aya left. I don't know why. All she said that if she didn't leave, someone would kill Miku and Aki."  
  
Tasting his new dish, he accidentally vomited the entire meal he just ate. "Nani? Aya left?! Darn it! I knew something bad would happen. I'll call onee-chan and Q-san!"  
  
"Hai. Yuuhi, thanks for your concern."  
  
Yuuhi blushed on the other side of the conversation. "Iie. No problem! Sayonara!" He dropped the phone and cleaned up the food that fell. "You're always wrong timing, Tooya!"  
  
He glanced at the cross. The broken chain reminded Tooya of days when he forgot Aya. "Hurts so much, doesn't it? You deserve it! In the first place, your not even human, Tooya," said a voice inside Tooya's mind.  
  
Tooya covered his eyes and ears and started shouting. "Who the hell are you? Shut up!"   
  
"Who am I?" The icy voice repeated. "Well, I'm just Aya. I am the opposite of the Aya you fell in love with."  
  
"What do you want with me?" Tooya asked. As he opened his eyes, a blurred imaged appeared before him, the image of-"Aya?"  
  
"Tooya..." she grinned. "I am not who you think I am. Aya is I and I am Aya. You've never known me because Aya hid me from you. I've seen you by Aya's side and how you made her cry countless times."  
  
Frustrated, Tooya sat down on the couch and drank the lemonade he prepared. He folded his sleeves and saw the scar of his sword. He carefully examined it and then a blinding light passed through it and made Tooya feel hell.  
  
"Have enough?" asked the other Aya. She gave a nasty smirk and showed Tooya a broken piece of glass with blood in her hand. Tooya was still in pain, holding his wrist.   
  
"Why don't you just kill me? If it would make you feel better, why don't you?"  
  
"If I do that, the Aya you know won't be able to take it and kill the both of us. It hurts, doesn't it? You feel the pain, right? Whatever happens, you're still human. Because you're alive, the past will repeat itself on you and Aya and your children. During the hours of darkness of your seventh year as a being, the broken pieces of you past will take shape. The shadows are you light, and the imperceptible is your darkness. Be wary of the things that appear real, for they are deceptions which, will be your downfall."  
  
"You were the one who said those words to me?" he asked with a dazed look on his face. "Why?"  
  
"I gave you a warning. I am the darkness and the real Aya is the imperceptible. Take my counsel and depart this dwelling with your children. Certainly, Aya will come back but when she does, you shall be the only one who will be able to protect your child with what you originally had."  
  
Tooya searched into Aya's eyes and saw her compassion for him. He knew that even if this was not the real Aya, she still loved him, deep down in her heart. He also knew that the Aya he now faced was afraid to be hurt and so he remained still. Deceptions, huh, he thought. "I made you cry so many times, even I wouldn't be able to count it. But still, why did you love me?"  
  
Aya raised her head and closed her eyes. "I don't know... All I know is that when I met you, I knew that we were fated to be with each other. I hated it but Aya honestly loved you, I couldn't do anything about it for she controls this body, not me."  
  
"I see... Why are you here? If you want me to suffer, why say this to me?"  
  
"Somewhere inside of me, I needed to tell you. I wanted you to suffer because you made me cry so many times!" Aya then began to shed her tears.  
  
"You shouldn't cry, Aya." Tooya caressed Aya's face. "I promised you, didn't I? I promised you that I'll never make you cry, but everything I seem to do makes you shed a tear."  
  
Aya smiled. "I'm pregnant, Tooya. Suzumi told me so..."  
  
Tooya held out his hand to Aya's abdomen. "Our third child..."  
  
Aya nodded and then cuts Tooya's arm once again with an evil smile. "Why do you keep on cutting me?!"  
  
"I don't know! Its as if I'm forced to do this because I am Aya's darkness..."  
  
Miku, who was trying to wear her jumper, entered the living room. Miku looked confused. She at his father and then back to the empty space he was talking to. "Oto-san," Miku disturbed.  
  
"Miku?"  
  
"Who are you talking to, oto-san?"  
  
"Only you can see me. If you need to talk to Aya, just call out my name and I will be by your side as soon as possible. Promise me that you'll never take off my heart."  
  
He bowed down and looked at his daughter. "You remind me of your mother, Miku. If she was only here, she would've been happy seeing me talk to the air."  
  
The day passed without Suzumi and the others calling. Miku, Aki, and especially Tooya felt deserted. During the night, they all slept in Aya and Tooya's bed. As he sung Aki to sleep and tried to close his eyes, a gust of cold air entered his nostrils. The cold air made Tooya reminisce on the days he could have spent with Aya. He learned more that what those simple times meant to him. Looking back at all they've experienced, Aya suffered more than he had. "Sorry, Aya."  
  
He stood up and went out of the room silently and called out Aya's name. He had no reply. Tooya went down the staircase and opened the lights of their kitchen. He looked around and walked faster and faster. Tooya held out his hand and took a knife. He observed it for a moment and afterwards, he positioned the sharper end a few inches above his wrist. "I cannot live without you, Aya. I won't allow us to be parted anymore..."  
  
Tooya moved the knife closer and closer until---- Blood spurted out of his wrist. The blood did not stop as well as Tooya's breathing. He grabbed for his heart but still it did not stop.  
  
A flashing red light surrounded Tooya. An embrace from the back filled his entire body with warmth. "Who's holding me like this?" He asked himself. "Only one person can give warmth to my body like this..."  
  
He opened his eyes and found Aya embracing him with a smile. Warm colors filled the empty spaces... Tooya felt that he was in heaven. He leaned closer to Aya as he tried to kiss her. "Come back... Aya..." he said.  
  
"Don't die just because of me... I don't want our children to loose their father at a very young age... Tooya... you deserve more than this. I'll give you..." A glowing light appeared in Aya's hands as she touched Tooya. She handed him a sword... "Use it... I give you your powers back, for now and forever. I love you Tooya. Don't think that you made me cry... I cried because I loved you... I'll never forget you, even if I was born again."  
  
"Tooya! Tooya!" A hazy voice said. "Tooya!"  
  
"Ceres?" Tooya asked holding his sword.  
  
"Tooya, Aya's been... Aya's dead!" 


End file.
